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If you want to remove the stench from the apartment, simple home remedies can help you. Because the unpleasant smells can be neutralized with vinegar, baking soda, and the like. Remove apartment odors quickly and easily and avoid bad smells in the future.

Where do unpleasant smells come from?

Do you live in an old, musty apartment? Or the garbage can stinks again and the whole apartment smells burnt from cooking? Regardless of whether it is a permanent unpleasant odor or a short-term stench. In the following, we will show you how you can neutralize odors. But before you can get rid of the stinky smell, you need to know where it’s coming from.

It is important that the musty smell does not come from mold in the apartment. Because this one is dangerous. If you suspect mold in your home, read our post on home remedies for mold removal. But if you want to remove the smell of cigarette smoke, the garbage can, or from cooking, then we have collected some home remedies below. With these, you can easily remove home odors.

1) Remove apartment odors with vinegar

If you want to get rid of unpleasant smells like cigarettes or cabbage smell from your room, then use vinegar as a household remedy against the unpleasant odors. To do this, place a small bowl filled with vinegar in one or more places in the room. Then you can breathe again. Because the vinegar neutralizes the smell. Set up several vinegar bowls in large rooms. And if the smell is particularly strong, you can also wipe the large surfaces of the room with vinegar water.

2) Neutralize odors with coffee

Coffee powder from fresh coffee beans neutralizes smelly odors in the home. For this, you can sprinkle the coffee powder on a small plate. Then distribute the plates or bowls in your apartment. This will neutralize the odor and drive away from the stench.

3) Orange peels against roasting smells

Orange peels are also very good for neutralizing odors. If the whole apartment stinks after frying fish or meat, you can put orange peels on the hot stove. The evaporating scent of the orange ensures a pleasant freshness. Also, see our article on getting rid of a smelly odor from your vacuum cleaner.

4) Neutralize odors with washing powder

Special home deodorants or room fragrances from the drugstore ensure better smells. But they are mostly expensive. If you want to save money, you can put some washing powder in a bowl. Then set them up hidden in the apartment. You can use it to remove many home odors. It also helps if you want to neutralize the smell of nicotine and drive away cigarette smoke.

5) Bind home odors with salt

The all-rounder salt can also help you to remove the stench in the apartment. Because this binds bad smells such as burnt smells or fresh paint smells. If milk has boiled over, you can also add salt to the hot stovetop. This will immediately stop the smoke and smell of overboiled milk. You can also put a bowl of saltwater in the freshly painted room if the walls are freshly painted. This will neutralize the smell of the paint.

6) Baking soda against smelly trash cans

If you want to avoid unpleasant odors in the kitchen when you open the trash can lid, then using the miracle cure baking soda will help you. To do this, you’ll need to put 2-3 tablespoons of baking soda in the trash bag. As a result, the baking soda neutralizes unpleasant odors and absorbs smelly moisture. Baking soda also inhibits the growth of bacteria. Accordingly, bad smells can be easily removed from the trash can. Cat litter also helps very well with smelly garbage cans.

7) Neutralize odors with fragrances

You can also mask the smells with scented candles. Because the burning scented candles drown out the smells for some time. Accordingly, the method is only a quick emergency measure. In addition, you must combat the cause of the odor. You can also use a fragrance diffuser or air freshener. Strong incense sticks are particularly good. Also, note our recipes for making scented candles yourself.

8) Cat litter against the stench in the apartment

Since cat litter binds bad odors, you can use it to neutralize various smelly places in the household. If the trash can or diaper bin smells, fill it with kitty litter. The ground should be well covered. For the closet or shoe closet, put some cat litter in a sock and put it there. And you can also place a bowl of cat litter in the fridge so that unpleasant odors disappear. Then you have to change the litter once a week and the stench stays away. Also, read how to remove oven smell.

9) Eliminate odor from dogs and cats

Anyone who owns pets knows that odors tend to cling to sofas and mattresses. And these can also be permanently neutralized. You will need cinnamon sticks, cloves, anise stars, and cardamom pods. Then boil them in a pot with plenty of water and let the brew steep for about 15 minutes. This should result in a strong spiced tea. Finally, let it cool down and fill it in a spray bottle. You can then use this to spray the sofa, pillows, and mattress. Consequently, the spices with their essential oils neutralize the bad smells in no time. In addition, you can make a lot of other room fragrances yourself.

10) Odor neutralizers from the internet

There are also so-called aroma diffusers on the Internet. Not only do they emit a fresh scent, but they also serve as humidifiers. And these are also very cheap. We picked out our favorite for you. Also, note how you can make textile fresheners yourself.

A smelly washing machine and smelly laundry are annoying. In order to effectively remove bad odors, you need to clean your washing machine regularly. Simple tricks and natural home remedies can help here.

Reasons for an unpleasant smell of the laundry

Laundry that is freshly removed from the washing machine and smells unpleasant is very annoying. But why is this? Experts agree that liquid detergent and fabric softener are the main causes of this problem. Of course, the liquid detergent is a win for the environment, but the washing machine doesn’t like it that much. In order to be able to avoid smelly laundry, you should look around for clever detergent alternatives.

How often to clean the washing machine?

You should also clean your washing machine regularly to avoid smelly washing machines and smelly laundry. So you can benefit from the long service life of your device. But how often do I have to clean the device?

At the latest when your clothes smell bad after washing, you should clean your washing machine. It is also advisable to run a wash cycle at hot temperatures once a month without laundry. As a result, you can fight germs and bacteria. You should also regularly remove dust from the device with a damp cloth. You should also clean the fluff filter, the seals, and the detergent container once a month. In this way, you can prevent and neutralize unpleasant odors. Simple household remedies are sufficient for cleaning the washing machine.

1) Vinegar against limescale

If there are coarser deposits, you should instead use the home remedy vinegar essence. Then put this home remedy in the washing machine with an old bed sheet and let it work at 95 degrees to clean the washing machine. Then run a program 1-2 more times. This is the only way to completely remove the vinegar essence. Fat and other deposits are then effectively removed.

2) Citric acid for cleaning washing machines

Citric acid is cheap, environmentally friendly, efficient, and available in every drugstore. It will help you loosen limescale without damaging delicate rubber components as vinegar does. It is also a good way to descale the washing machine. Accordingly, put a maximum of eight tablespoons of citric acid in the empty washing machine (directly in the drum). Then choose a washing program with a maximum of 40 °C and start the machine without laundry. Once 50 percent of the wash time has elapsed, pause the wash program for two hours. This allows the citric acid to take effect. Then end the washing program. In the following video, you can watch the cleaning procedure with citric acid and find out why the acid must not be heated above 40 degrees.

3) Baking soda against dirt

Using baking soda can also keep the machine clean. To do this, mix two bags of baking soda with a little water. Then put the paste directly into the washing drum or detergent compartment. Then run the smelly washing machine on a hot wash cycle. You will quickly enjoy nice-smelling and clean laundry. In addition, note useful tips for descaling the kettle.

4) Cleaning with soda

Cleaning the washing machine with the home remedy washing soda is environmentally friendly and easy. Because you can add this to the laundry during a normal washing program. This saves water and energy. Consequently, simply add 1-2 tablespoons of soda directly into the detergent drawer with the detergent. In addition, soda has outstanding advantages:

  • more powerful than baking soda
  • gentle on seals
  • versatile usable
  • Cheap

5) Clean in washing machine with baking soda

If you don’t have soda at home, you can also use the popular home remedy baking soda to clean a smelly washing machine because baking soda helps against odors, limescale, and bacteria. It is used without washing: Put 50 grams in the washing machine and run a full wash cycle at a minimum of 40 °C.

Important tips for using the washing machine

In addition to the home remedies mentioned, there are a few tips and tricks that you should take to heart. Otherwise, it can quickly happen that you have to buy a new washing machine. But don’t panic with the following tip your washing machine will last for a long time without problems:

6) Allow moisture to escape

To keep your washing machine from smelling, you should always let the moisture escape. To do this, avoid closing the washing machine door. It must always be open so that the device can dry well after use and no mold forms. You should also keep the detergent compartment open so that the residual moisture can escape. In line with the topic, also note tips for reducing high humidity.

7) Occasional heat wash

As already mentioned, low temperatures are often to blame when clothes smell bad. Microorganisms multiply rapidly in humid climates. Therefore, occasionally run your machine at high temperatures (60 – 95 degrees. Then germs and bacteria die. At 30 – 40 degrees, only a small part of the microbes in the laundry is washed out. While at 60 degrees, significantly more Therefore, wash underwear, tea towels, and cleaning cloths at this temperature. For all other clothes, follow the care instructions for the textiles. However, if a family member is ill, it would be advisable to wash their laundry separately at 60 degrees.

8) Clean detergent compartment and lint filter

High temperatures at regular intervals are good but only help to a limited extent with dirt in the detergent compartment. Because detergent and fabric softener residues often remain in the compartments, causing mold to form. Since the entire detergent drawer can usually be removed in just a few simple steps, cleaning is possible without any problems. How to remove the element can be found in the instructions for use of the washing machine.

Then hot water and a good brush are enough to remove dirt without leaving any residue. You can also use some citric acid if necessary. Then let all components dry thoroughly. Likewise, a foul smell can emanate from the fluff filter. If this is rarely emptied, hair, lint, and many other components accumulate. The machine manufacturers provide individual information about the correct removal and cleaning of the sieve.

9) Maintain door seal

The door seal in the porthole of the washing machine provides a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Since the surfaces here are constantly damp and clogged with hair, fluff, and detergent residue, soiling is inevitable. Here, too, citric acid is a reliable helper. Accordingly, put a few squirts of the home remedy on a rag and wipe the entire sealing ring thoroughly with it. And your washing machine stays clean.